Because of the huge outcry from reader (s) of the blog I decided I would add a post (or maybe two?) about Vienna. It will not necessarily be very educational, but it will be a chance to post a few pictures and a few reflections.

Isthmea was the one of four sites that held athletic games, like the Olympic Games that are every four years. It is the town that is right next to what is now the canal, but there wasnít a canal back then (isthmus means a narrow land-bridge connecting two continents or land masses). People came all over to compete and to watch the competition. On the archaeological site is a huge temple for Poseidon who the games were dedicated to. I have decided not to write a lot of facts about the games because I would just be looking on the Internet (and in books) and you can do that yourself from ... more...

I thought it would be interesting to visit ancient Sparta because I remembered hearing about it in history class, but I was told that there wasnít much to see there. However, it is still a beautiful drive and there was supposed to be a very interesting Olive Oil Museum.

Sparta looks mostly like a modern Greek city. There were lots of cars and shops. I even saw some recognizable ones like United Colors of Benetton. There was no evidence of ancient Sparta at first glance. Then we followed some signs to a museum. It was small, but had some nice mosaics and a few ... more...

NEWS BULLETIN-We just returned to Corinth from a trip to Sparta.On the way we saw that there was a big fire on Acrocorinth (the big mountain behind Corinth).There were planes and helicopters flying back and forth from the sea bringing water to p... more...

Today I am going to show you a few of the people who are working here at Corinth and tell you about them. There are people from all different levels of education here using the artifacts to help them learn and to publish.

Erica is not finished with her doctorate yet. She is from Italy, but is studying in England. She is working on getting her doctorate. She is interested in Byzantine pottery. She said that a lot of the ancient pottery in Italy was imported from Corith. If you look at a map you can see how close Greece and Italy are. She spends her time taking looking ... more...

On the way to Epidaurus we went to Mycenae. There is an interesting archaeologist story about Mycenae. In the mid 1800s most archaeologists thought that the Illiad and the Odyessy written by Homer (great stories-you should read them!) were just stories and not based in reality. Heinrich Schliemann was a flamboyant archaeologist who did not want to listen to others and decided he was going to find the ancient cities that the books were based on. He went to Mycenae to dig. Everyone was surprised at what he found. There was gold and treasure and signs that the city ... more...

Today I was going to show you some pictures from the work in the museum, but I had to get permission and so I think I will be able to put them in here on Monday.I thought it might be interesting to hear about how someone decided to become an archaeologist.

Nancy Bookidis did not like school, but she always knew that she wanted to be an archaeologist. As a child she liked to dig and find things and to draw.She was always very interested in history.Because of that she did keep going to school until she got her doctorate. She spent time working and learning at archaeological ... more...

Here I am in an Internet cafe again writing my blog. The cafe I am in is different than the one I was at yesterday. This one is called Internet and Games and is like a big and very nice computer lab where people (mostly young guys) come to play computer games. The music is loud and smoking is allowed, but you can get a frappe and it only costs 2 Euro an hour.

I do have pictures, but am having trouble uploading them now... maybe I will edit and add them later.

I have been spending most of my time volunteering in the museum for the last few days. Tomorrow I am going ... more...

First of all, I am sorry that the pictures I am putting into the Blog today do not have as much to do with the content.The Internet connection at the archaeological house where I am staying has been shut down.I am putting up the blog from the Internet cafť in the picture.At the archaeological house the Internet was free and wireless.It was great.Here it costs three euros an hour.Here is where you can find out how much a Euro is in Dollars.

First of all here are the pictures of the columns. I have been reading a bit about the different types of columns and reasons for them, but I have other things to tell you, so let me know if you want more on this topic.

Yesterday I swam in the ocean again and had some very interesting experiences. But first I was stuck in a traffic jam. It was an interesting traffic jam because we were crossing the Corinth Canal

When people think about Greece they often think of Islands and beaches. That is mainly because that is what tourist agencies want you to think about. But it is also because there are a lot of beaches in Greece and the water is beautiful and warm.

Well, I am now on the fifth leg of the journey to Corinth, Greece. It all started out at 9:30 am Monday, July 2 with a short flight from Austin to Dallas, Texas. We then changed planes and headed for St. Louis, Missouri where we met our to sons who are joining us on this trip. That takes us to 2:30 in the aftenoon of Monday, July 2. Then we got on another shortish flight to Cinncinati, OH and changed planes for the long trip across the Atlantic Ocean. (thatís three planes so far) We flew to Paris, France overnight (a short night). They served us dinner ... more...

I am enjoying reading what bloggers are saying about their experiences at NECC this year (2007), but my experience was so different. Last night I spent time reading Joyce Valenza, Wil Richardson, and Jeff Utecht. Part of the reason I had a different experience is that I was working with a vendor this year and so spent most of my time in the exhibitions. It is the other part that I am wondering about. Why didnít I meet really exiting people in the blogger lounge? Why donít I twitter? Why didnít I skype during the conference? Why donít I have an avatar yet? ... more...

I haven't shared about the passport fiasco. I think that was because it might turn out bad, but I have to share it now.

My son is going with us and he did not have a passport. Through some confusion about his birth certificate and other procrastination of what should be done on time it got too late to get his passport the regular way. So, ... more...

It is Friday. On Monday I will be on a flight (or several) to Athens, Greece and then on a train to Corinth. On Tuesday the official blogging project starts. I
have only heard from a few people who are interested in receiving email
updates about the trip. The main interest that I know about is Greek
Architecture. Please email janicef@jfriesen.net
if you have any requests! Last time I know that many friends and family
followed along and commented on the blog, so you never know what the
interest will be.

I have spent the whole day at the exhibition hall helping out with the My eCoach booth and time has flied all day! Wow! There has been a constant stream of people visiting the booth and asking questions. There is lots of interest in My eCoach.

I think it is really hard to explain what My eCoach is, but it is so amazing how many things you can do with it. Have you tried the Survey tool? Did you know that you can filter the results?I want to add that I am going to Greece in just 8 days!

The countdown continues on my other blog :http://malahinitx.blogspot.com

I am switching to My eCoach for this blog for a few reasons.

I wanted to try out the blogging tool.

Blogger.com is not a safe place to send students.

I can easily upload and post pictures to this site.

The newest participants in the blogging project are Home Schoolers who are doing Home Schooling in High School. They are going to combine following the trip with reading and writing to meet Social Studies and English requirements. The students are going to use the Comment feature of the blog to ask me to find out ... more...

Today there are 26 more days until the beginning of the Greece Project. I am keeping a countdown on my other blog http://malahinitx.blogspot.com, but today I am also putting this on the blog that I might be using for the trip.

It is hard to decide which blog to use. I have now actively tried 4 blogging tools: